The Jasper Local April 1 2017 by The Jasper Local

a lt e r n at i v e +

LOCAL + independent

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thejasperlocal.com

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saturday, april 1, 2017 // ISSUE 94

LOCAL LEGEND // LONI KLETTL SWOOPS DOWN THE SWEET SLOPE OF INDIAN RIDGE TOWARDS MUHIGAN CREEK WITH THE MIGHTY RAMPARTS TOWERING IN THE DISTANCE. // SEAN PROCKTER

Budget error has officials back pedalling A budget miscalculation affecting Parks Canada’s Icefields Trail (North) project, the 109-km path proposed from Jasper to the Columbia Icefields, has government officials back pedalling.

A Parks Canada internal memo obtained by The Jasper Local indicates planners made an egregious oversight when forecasting 2017 revenues for JNP. “Financial officers neglected to take into account the lack of gate fees being collected during Canada 150 celebrations,” the document reads. “Without those assets, it would be foolish to commit $85 million to build a paved path that will only be used, at most, four months of the year.”

Entry to all national parks and historic sites is free in 2017 because Canada.

Rather than cancel the Icefields Trail (North) proposal outright, bureaucrats are suggesting project proponents reduce the length of the trail or use alternate construction materials. “Reducing the length of the trail by 25 kilometres from each end would keep costs in a more reasonable bracket,” an email reads. “Rather than asphalt, gravel or chip seal could also provide an economically feasible option for the bike path.” A decision on the budget cut is to be ratified by next April Fools!

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page A2 // the jasper local // issue 94 // saturday, april 1, 2017

editorial //

Local Vocal When Dale Diduck took over Gravity Gear in 1993, there was $1,000 in the till and a meagre inventory of climbing accessories to peddle. He asked his buddies if they thought the shop had a chance. For some reason, they gave him the thumbs up. Back then, Diduck would open the shop in the morning and close in the afternoon to put up climbing routes. Even though he wasn’t manning the store all day, that community-first ethos gave Gravity Gear the street cred, and the customer loyalty, it enjoys today. It’s a similar story with Freewheel Cycle. For the last 34 years, the shop has built a ton of community capital by putting on events, introducing kids to biking and investing their time and energy into grassroots programming. This month, both stores elected to pare down their expenses by moving shop. It seems the slow creep of online retail outlets has finally caused a seismic shift in our local business district. It’s sad to think that the internet is eroding local companies’ competitive edge. And while certainly in a tourism town other large, uncontrollable factors affect who visits and how they spend, if this trend of downsizing continues in Jasper, I worry for what will become of our downtown core. It occurred to me recently that there is a fairly wide misconception about local retailers: people assume local shop owners are financially secure. Particularly since we had an increase in visitors last year, the presumption is that if you own a business in Jasper, you’re raking it in. Not exactly. Diduck said that six years after he took ownership of Gravity Gear, he was finally able to pay an employee. Many other local business owners have similar tales of hardscrabble shopkeeping. Today, as we’ve seen, it is increasingly hard to keep a business in the black. And we know rent doesn’t typically go down. There is no silver bullet to this problem. The truth is, we’re all going to have to get each other’s backs. That means referring guests to each other’s businesses, working together on issues such as staffing and accommodations, and putting our heads together to try to make Jasper’s business district a destination. When Dale Diduck asked his friends if they thought his shop had a chance, he got the thumbs up. It wasn’t because anyone thought it was going to be easy. Quite the opposite: they knew he had the stuff to grind it out. You got this, retailers. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

RE: Horrors of war Dear Editor, Debate is forbidden in a totalitarian society. Evidence becomes irrelevant. Books are burned. I agree with Harry Home’s sentiments (The Jasper Local, March 15) about most people being loving and peaceful. I also agree that wars are horrible. That is why I am putting so much on the line. A world of lies and deceptions is a world of war and turmoil. I am motivated by love and I am working for peace. I disagree with Home’s statement that “there is definite evidence of the murder of millions of Jews, and that the death camps did exist…” People keep repeating that statement like a mantra, but where is the evidence? The Toronto Holocaust Trials of the 1980s showed plenty of evidence to the contrary, and holocaust trials have been avoided ever since. Many people, including Jews, died in the work camps. Most deaths occurred as a

result of starvation and disease during the last few months of the war, as supply lines were cut due to Allied bombing. Amazon just e ngaged in a massive modern-day book burning, when scores of titles disappeared from their site. These books put into question the orthodox holocaust narrative. Many scholarly works containing archival primary source material have been thrown down the memory hole. Perhaps we can interpret this as a ringing endorsement of those books. It is best to vaporize them when one cannot refute what is written in them. Even the act of erasing the books is itself erased, as mainstream media outlets either ignore it, or claim that only 3 book titles were eliminated. I personally own more than 3 of the disappeared books. But again, facts are irrelevant in George Orwell’s world. Why is hatred and scorn...cont on A3

The Jasper Local //

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Published on the 1st and 15th of each month Editor / Publisher

Bob Covey.................................................................................... bob@thejasperlocal.com Art Director

Nicole Gaboury.................................................................. nicole@thejasperlocal.com Advertising + sales

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// Local development

saturday, april 1, 2017 // issue 94 // the jasper local// page A3

TREAD CAREFULLY // SKI SLOPES AROUND SHANGRILA CABIN IN THE MALIGNE RANGE SAW LARGE NATURAL AVALANCHES AS THE DEEP PERSISTENT WEAK LAYERS OF THIS WINTER’S SNOWPACK FAILED. // JOHN WARD

Valemount resort gets final approval Valemount Glacier Destinations has the green light from the province of British Columbia.

On March 27, B.C. Minister Shirley Bond, along with proponents of the year-round ski resort and representatives from the Simpcw First Nation, signed the project’s Master Development Agreement. The MDA is the culmination of a multi-tiered process that began in 2012 when the 20,000 acre, 2,000 bed mega resort west of Valemount was first pitched to resort architect and designer, Oberto Oberti. “It’s a real sense of accomplishment,” said project lead Tom Oberti,. “Now we’re ready to get down to the real work.” The approval of the $100 million resort is the first of its type in more than 50 years—not since the development of Whistler has a “greenfield” (unserviced site) ski area been approved. “This wouldn’t have happened without immense public support for the project and the Simpcw First Nation,” Oberti said. With the MDA in place, the next step is “due

diligence for the investor group,” according to Oberti. That means ensuring the project’s Toronto-based funders are satisfied with the ongoing process so that funds are made available for each step of construction— the first phase of which is slated to begin sometime this summer. “We’re aiming at the moment to start building construction roads in early fall,” Oberti said. In the meantime, VGD will be preparing land surveys and engineering pertaining to the lifts and resort roads, according to Oberti. VGD is looking to 2018 for ski lift construction, and ball-parked the resort opening for that following winter. “We’re aware of the fact that there’s a lot of work ahead of us,” he said. Valemount’s Joe Nusse, who first proposed the idea to Oberti along with the Village of Valemount’s economic development officer, said achieving the milestone has made him very happy. “Now the real excitement can start as we gear up for construction,” Nusse said. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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levelled at those who peacefully express dissent? Those who question the orthodoxy are criminalized by way of “hate speech” laws. Everything is turned on its head by criminalizing truth revealers and calling them the haters. Is this event called “the holocaust” really so cut and dried? Surely the reaction alone should be enough to alert

thinking people everywhere that there might be some flaws in the prevailing narrative. If I was so wrong about the conclusions I have reached about WW2 history, nobody would feel threatened by what I am saying. They could simply present the evidence. Truth does not fear investigation. - Monika Schaefer, Jasper

page B1 // the jasper local // issue 94 // saturday, april 1, 2017

Local business //

BLUEBIRD // PATRICK MAHLER CELEBRATED HIS TRANSITION INTO ADULTHOOD WITH A SKI ON SPARKLING AMETHYST LAKE. THE NEWLY MINTED 18-YEAR-OLD HAS ALREADY ACCUMULATED A LIFETIME OF ADVENTURES. // TRISTAN NISSEN

Stayin' alive: Retailers downsizing amid downturn Two cornerstones of the Jasper retail experience are moving shop. But even though Freewheel Cycle and Gravity Gear—both tenants of the same building at 618 Patricia

online shopping hurts their bottom line, Hall says she doesn’t blame the consumer. “It’s not a consumer problem, it’s an industry problem,” Hall said. “We’re the ones that have to adjust.” Next door, at Gravity Gear, Dale and

MEASURE TWICE... // DALE DIDUCK WAS SETTING UP SHOP IN GRAVITY GEAR’S NEW HOME MARCH 30. WITH THE HELP OF HIS WIFE, DIDUCK IS CONSTANTLY AIMING TO INCREASE EFFICIENCIES AT THE LOCALLY-LOVED CLIMBING SHOP. // BOB COVEY

Street—are packing up, neither stores are packing it in. “We’re not going anywhere,” said Freewheel’s Chris Peel. “We’re just shrinking.” Peel and his wife, Wendy Hall, explained that Freewheel has decided to opt out of their lease renewal and move to an alternate retail space. They’ll still be on Patricia Street (next to TD Bank), but their new space will be smaller and rent will be cheaper. By downsizing, they’re adapting to the reality of being a bike shop in 2017, Hall said. “For us to survive, we can’t spend another winter in our current space. We’ve got to go smaller,” she said. The challenges of being a brickand-mortar retailer in the age of internet shopping have steadily been increasing. But even though

Dani Diduck were also adjusting. On March 30, Dani was shuttling load after load of climbing gear, clothing, packs, boots and sunglasses across the street, while Dale was taking measurements to construct a change room in the back of the new store. Gravity Gear’s new home, as of April 1, is in the Walker Building, next to the Dollar-and-Up Store. Dale and Dani eyed this space five years ago but now, with their lease up, they’re taking the opportunity to move. The new pad is a little bigger, has a bit better visibility, and most importantly, is a little less expensive. Still, margins are tight. Gravity Gear orders a lot of their inventory from the U.S., where they get dinged by duty fees, not to mention the exchange rate. And everyday they feel the slow crush of online distributors. In fact, even as Dani was ferrying an armful of rental gear

to the new shop, a family of three approached her, asking for a specific avalanche probe. The daughter, in her late 20s, was swiping her phone, indicating she was looking for a carbon model. Gravity Gear had a nearly identical product, but it was aluminum.

Jasper? According to at least one Jasper retailer, they dropped off.

“We can get it online,” the woman whispered to her father, before walking away.

Moreover, despite Jasper being busier than ever last summer, for retailers, the high season wasn’t that high. The town was busy, she said, but “no one was buying.”

Shops like Gravity Gear and Freewheel have been encountering scenarios like this for the last five years, Hall said. It stings to know that Freewheel is being undercut by the same companies they order parts and bikes from (companies unload their unsold stock via sites like Chain Reaction and Bikewagon), but there’s not a lot they can do to stem the tide. Instead, the way forward is to harken back to their roots, Hall says. That means more programming, more communityfocused rides and more biking with kids. “We’re streamlining, and by doing so, we’re taking Freewheel back to the reason it started,” she said. That was in 1983. In those days, Freewheel was located in the alley behind what’s now Earl’s Jasper. Thirty four years later, the shop’s back door will open onto almost the exact same location.

“People can’t be spontaneous if they don’t have disposable income,” said Karen Jacobs, who owns Mountain Air, one of two independent clothing stores on Connaught Drive, now that The Niche has closed shop. “

“It’s been a tough year for retail,” Jacobs said. “We’ll see if 2017 is any better, but so far it hasn’t been trending that way.” Back at Freewheel’s new space, where Chris Peel was surveying the paint job that his wife and business partner had applied the night before, the 41-year-old was ruminating on a different, uncontrollable factor that will undoubtedly affect the shop’s bottom line: weather. Peel knows that rain, while good for restaurants, is no good for a store that rents bikes. “Knock on wood,” he said. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

“We’re cutting out the frills, we’re going back to our roots,” Hall said. It’s not just the internet that is slowly gutting commercial shops’ revenue, however. Other big-picture factors include the Canadian/U.S. dollar exchange rate and the regional economy. In the winter, especially, Jasper stores rely on their Grande Prairie, Edmonton and Fort McMurray customers to buoy sales so they can make it through until summer. But 2016 was tough on Alberta. The economy tanked. Disposable income was in short supply. Those spontaneous trips to

WENDY HALL AND CHRIS PEEL OF FREEWHEEL CYCLE ARE RENOVATING THE SPACE AT 606 PATRICIA, DOWNSIZING THEIR STORE AND GETTING BACK TO THEIR ROOTS. // B COVEY

Local dining //

saturday, april 1, 2017 // issue 94 // the jasper local// page B2

Jasper chef sharpening his knives for his biggest challenge yet entrance and riffed on the popularity of funky, healthy The 58-year-old chef, restauranteur and salads containing a plethora businessman sold The Raven Bistro on April of locally-sourced herbs and 1, but instead of packing up his knife set and honeys. calling it a career, Riedler is carving out a new challenge for he and his wife, Darlene: turning an “Unfortunately for me, I’m not sick of what I do,” he laughed. old relic into Jasper’s next must-visit eatery, The Whiskey Jack Grill. What Riedler doesn’t do, is punch out the same formulas “I can’t sit around too much,” the animated as his predecessors. He didn’t Canadian-Austrian said. “I’d drive Dar nuts.” The object of Riedler’s attention these days is the do it at Fiddle River, where he nixed the local’s favourite massive dining room known forever in Jasper “Archie’s Delight” appetizer FORGET RETIREMENT! HAVING SOLD THE RAVEN BISTRO, JASPER CHEF JOHN RIEDLER IS as Tonquin Prime Rib Village. To the casual FOCUSING HIS EFFORTS ON A NEW DINING ROOM: THE FORMER PRIME RIB VILLAGE. // BC when he took over in 2004, and observer, the 200-seat restaurant presents plenty he didn’t do it at The Raven, of challenges: an awkwardly-designed kitchen; Riedler’s sous-chef, Tessa Huibers. when he and Dar retro decor; and transformed the Latin-themed La Kliewer, who’s been in the hospitality industry an east-end Fiesta into a Moroccan-style brasserie for 15 years, including an eight-year stint at Earl’s location that is “Unfortunately for me, in 2014, much to the approval of Jasper, said owning The Raven is a dream come far from Jasper’s Jasper’s Trip Advisor community. I’m not sick of what I do” true. central business “We’re not going to do prime rib. district. “We bought what we deem to be a fantastic Nick [Bartziokas] had the best and restaurant,” Kliewer said. “And to have Tessa But where most it’s going to stay that way as far as I’m there for the changeover means we won’t miss a see disadvantages, Riedler sees opportunity. A concerned,” he said. beat and gives a lot of confidence in the product few mods to the kitchen notwithstanding, his we can roll out.” Although he admitted sloshing a mop back and vision is a space that can accomodate a 45-seat forth in the beer cooler wasn’t his idea of living bistro, cater to functions in one of two private The Raven Bistro and the soon-to-be Whiskey the dream, what gets Riedler excited to come rooms and appease the gastro-pub crowd in the Jack Grill aren’t the only restaurants changing to his new workspace these days is the presunlit lounge. hands in 2017: Tom Perperidis of Villa Caruso planning and designing element. That’s what confirmed that the landmark steakhouse will “I see tons of potential,” he says, scanning the made opening The Raven so fun, he said, so become a Montana’s franchise, while Miss Italia’s premises with mop in hand. “The building is when Robert and Yvés Marchand, who bought found new owners this winter. dated but the bones are solid.” Prime Rib Village two years ago, pitched the idea For Riedler, who’s worked in various Jasper Riedler’s bones are apparently pretty solid, of Riedler taking over, Riedler’s curiosity got the kitchens since he “chased a girl here” in 1986, too. The life-long chef says he still loves to best of him. he’s not only looking toward the summer, but cook, and it shows. He waxed poetic about “The seed was planted,” Riedler said. beyond. new culinary creations he’s excited for (house At the same time, Michael and Ashley Kliewer smoked Berkshire bacon with organic molasses, “We love this lifestyle, we get to have a dinner anyone?), imagined a wall of rotisserie delicacies started talking casually about making a deal party with friends every night,” he said. with Riedler to take over The Raven Bistro with greeting patrons at the restaurant’s front

John Riedler ain’t done yet.

bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 94 // saturday, april 1, 2017

FEATURE // STORY BY DOUG OLTHOF PHOTOS BY DUSTIN LECLERC, ROA

CLAN OF THE SPLITBOARD

THE

PEOPLE

The world of backcountry snow-riders consists of several distinct tribes. The tribe of Alpine Touring Skiers runs the gamut from casual pow-seekers to peak-conquering ski-mountaineers. Their more poetic cousins, the Telemarkers, form a tribe of their own, one that lives by the mantra “free your heel; free your mind.” There is a third tribe, however, that has arrived on the scene more recently and that sometimes struggles to find their place among the more well-established clans: The Splitboarders.

offers participants a chance to spend two days in the backcountry with ACMG-certified guides, learning about safe backcountry travel and pushing into terrain they might not otherwise have the skills or confidence to challenge. As much as a community-building exercise, the Ascend Festival also serves as an inauguration for new initiates. Several of the participants in this year’s festival (held from March 10-12) had no prior experience on backcountry snowboarding equipment. One such splitboarding newbie, Lindsey

Derided for the slowness of their transitions and their awkwardness on undulating terrain, splitboarders are often dismissed by hard-charging AT Skiers (to say nothing of telemarkers) as being “disadvantaged” in the backcountry. Such prejudices notwithstanding, many splitboarders have successfully integrated into two-plank society, yo-yoing gladed slopes and even crossing substantial traverses in mixed company. On occasion, however, even the most assimilated splitboarder longs for the comforting familiarity

of fellow sideways-sliders. On such occasions, splitboarders can be found gathering by the dozen in soft-booted congregations known as “splitboard festivals.” Every year in March, Jasper is witness to just such a spectacle, as riders from far and wide are drawn in by the Ascend Splitboard Festival. The festival was created in 2014 by Edmontonbased riders Lukas Matejovsky, Geoff Kramer and Julie Kramer, who wanted to share their love of backcountry snowboarding and help build a community of dedicated tribespeople. The festival

Boxma of Edson, learned about the festival through a friend who was returning for a second consecutive year. Already a strong snowboarder, Boxma said she was “intrigued by the idea of backcountry

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snowboarding and liked the idea of learning from professional guides.” In addition to teaching the uninitiated how to access backcountry snowboarding opportunities, however, the professional guides supplied by Jasper’s Rockaboo Mountain Adventures emphasize awareness of the risks inherent in that endeavour. That message was delivered early and to great effect by lead guide Max Darrah, who informed the group (somewhat ominously) that priority number one was to “stay out of the news.” For riders like Boxma, the experience of being out there in “touchy” conditions alerted her to just how little she knows about backcountry travel and to the importance of focused avalanche safety training. For more experienced splitboarders, the message was equally impactful. Both days of the festival were marked by significant avalanche activity, although—thankfully—none involving people. Remotely-triggered slab avalanches on day one and solar-triggered loose-dry avalanches on day two drove home the point that winter backcountry travel demands careful planning, risk management and humility. Perhaps the greatest lessons of the weekend came when the guide team switched up their plans midway through day two, having determined that conditions on the planned route had shifted outside the scope of acceptable risk. Hendrik Odendaal, a festival participant with slightly more than a full season’s worth of splitboarding experience, noted that two days of being guided through the Columbia Icefields area left him “more confident” in his backcountry travel skills, “but also more aware of all the things

that can go wrong.” In many ways, that is an ideal takeaway. For tribe members like Lindsey and Hendrik, the Ascend Splitboard Festival provided a valuable opportunity to build up their skills as backcountry snow-riders. For many of the festival participants, however, the most memorable parts of the weekend were the new connections made with splitboarders from all walks of life and levels of experience. This was the community that the Ascend Splitboard Festival organizers had envisioned from the outset. As the taillights of our tribespeople faded along the highway, however, we splitboarders who remained in Jasper were thrust back into the reality of being snowboarders in a skier’s world. We can hold on to our traditions, but we will have to practice our transitions. Doug Olthof // doug@thejasperlocal.com

page B5 // the jasper local // issue 94 // saturday, april 1, 2017

Local storytelling //

The Art of Storytelling: A Guiding Light On March 23, the Jasper Artists Guild held The Art of Storytelling at the Downstream Lounge and Restaurant to help generate funds for its new space in the Jasper Library and Cultural Centre. Eight different speakers regaled the crowd with their tall, true tales. Niki Wilson and Carolyn Fish had the crowd in stitches. Gilbert Wall told a heartbreaking story about grief and loss. Paulette Dube punctuated her touching narrative with profound poetry. And I talked about an incident in the mountains that can’t be easily explained.

HIGHER REALM //LOCAL SKI GUIDE JESSE MILNER WAS AT THE CENTRE OF A MYSTERIOUS INCIDENT ON THE WAPTA SKI TRAVERSE. // BOB COVEY

In the spring of 2015, four friends—myself, my fiancé Nicole, born-and-raised Jasperite Theresa Westhaver and apprentice ski-guide, Jesse Milner—embarked on the Wapta Icefields ski traverse in Banff National Park. The Wapta is fairly famous in ski touring circles: the 50 km, five night trip trip brings adventurers onto a sea of ice and snow, up close to 3,000 metre peaks and far away from the travails of the real world on the valley floor. For Nicole, Theresa and I, the trip was a step out of our comfort zone. For Jesse, it was an opportunity to lead a group on a Rocky Mountain classic: the experience would allow him to check off another objective in preparation for his guide’s exam. After a committing push up the Peyto Glacier on day one, the group was in good spirits on day two as we made the steady descent to Bow Hut. Reconstructed by the Alpine Club of Canada in 1989, Bow Hut is large by alpine hut standards, capable of sleeping 30 people. Its relative closeness to Bow Lake and the Icefields Parkway make it a popular destination for first time ski tourers, day trippers and—as I’d learned from a past trip—the occasional stag party. With the thought of encountering another such soirée in mind, it was a surprise and a delight, then, to discover that on this night, there was no one else around. After dinner, as we were winding down in front of the fireplace and getting ready for bed, Jesse came in from the porch. His usual jovial smile had been replaced by a look of concern. “Come out here and tell me if you see something,” he implored us. The three of us scurried to the deck, puzzled by his sudden turn in mood. Out on the porch, Jesse pointed south, towards an enormous icefall that, during the day, dazzled with seracs and crevasses. In the dark we could make out the cobalt chunks of ice against the black rock, but we weren’t sure what we were supposed to be looking at. Our eyes adjusted to the night. Finally, we saw something. High up on the mountain, two thirds of the way up that terrifyingly beautiful wall of ice, was a distinct flash of light. The light’s hue, the size of its projection and the arc it made along the glacier was eerily familiar—it looked like the distinct glow of a headlamp. As we tried to make sense of the vision, what looked like a second headlamp, approximately 50 metres away from the first, made a similar arc towards us. Each of

us peered into the darkness, trying to fathom what could possibly be going on. While we couldn’t be certain of what we were witnessing—it was possible the moonlight was refracting off of the icefall and playing tricks on our eyes—in the pit of our stomachs we were imagining the worst: a party had lost their way in a snowstorm and were now trapped on the icefall amid a deadly maze of crevasses. For nearly an hour we stared into the darkness, trying to convince ourselves that the far-off headlamps were figments of our imaginations. Yet we all continued to see them. Our thoughts were occupied with the owners of the mysterious torches and the perilous position they might be in.

ing our trip near Lake Louise, we said our goodbyes. Jesse was to continue his training regiment with a trip in Golden, Theresa was heading back to Prince George, where she was at school, and Nicole and I were going back to Jasper. We had begun to forget about the mystery of the flashing headlamps until a few days later, when Theresa called to tell us the story of Claire Dixon and Cornelius (Kees) Brenninkmeyer.

In 2006, Dixon and Brenninkmeyer were, like many young ski enthusiasts, keen to incorporate more time in the mountains into their lives. Kees was practicing to be a mountain guide. Claire was a physiotherapist. In December of that year, the couple volunteered for the Alpine Club of Canada, as hut custodians. Tragically, they passed “High up on the mountain, away on the Wapta Traverse. Rescuers two thirds of the way inferred that the couple had sought refuge from a storm but asphyxiated up that terrifyingly when their snow shelter collapsed on beautiful wall of ice, was them. They were found on January 4, a distinct flash of light.” 2007.

As such, after a restless few hours of non-sleep, at 4 a.m. Jesse and I grabbed our packs—now laden with sleeping bags, a tarp, hot tea and other emergency items—and moved as quickly as we could up the massive snow ramp leading to the icefall. As we clicked into our skis, Nicole and Theresa, who were seeing us off, once again looked up into the darkness. “I saw the lights again,” Nicole said. We hustled away.

An hour or so later, as Jesse and I skinned up the mountain, day started to break. Just as we began to traverse to where the icefall hung beneath a sweeping, undulating ridge, a remarkable sunrise began to manifest, giving the sky a dreamlike quality. Pinks, purples and golds crescendoed, reflecting off the white snow in a kaleidoscopic, surreal saturation. Suddenly, all thoughts came back to the present. We would rope up from here, Jesse said. As we cut under the blue glacier, its crevasses twinkling ominously, Jesse got to a point where he could see the area in question. The morning was bright and still; we doggedly scanned the terrain, looking for any sign of ski activity. We found none. We shouted, hollered and yodelled. There was only silence. Eventually we called our search off. Upon our return to the hut, Nicole and Theresa were as relieved as we were to have discovered that the mysterious lights were not emanating from a human source. We geared up for the rest of our adventure, but over the next four days we kept coming back to that night: what was it that we saw up there? On the sixth day, after skiing out of the trees and end-

What Theresa told me next floored me. She said that the year before, Jesse was awarded a scholarship for demonstrating outstanding potential in the guiding exam process. The scholarship was the Claire Dixon and Kees Brenninkmeyr bursary—an award honouring the lives of the young couple who’d passed away on the Watpa Traverse, eight years earlier. Dixon and Brenninkmeyer’s parents had set up the bursary in their children’s memory; Jesse had actually met with them a few weeks before our trip to say thank you for the support. Many people who spend time in the mountains claim that their pursuits give them spiritual fulfilment. While I’m not one to ascribe to supernatural beliefs, if there was ever a time in my life when it seemed our earthly world and something more ethereal were interfacing, those 12 hours on the Wapta was one of those times. We’ll never know what those lights really were. It could have been moonlight flickering off the icefall, or the twinkle of stars refracting on the glacier. But sometimes, when a young person is figuring out his life’s journey, it’s nice to think that there are encouraging signs from above. In this case, whether it was the moonlight refracting on the glacier, or whether it was the blink of an apparitional headlamp, the message to Jesse to follow his mountain path seemed too vivid to ignore.

bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

Do you have a story to share? Let us know!

saturday, april 1, 2017 // issue 94 // the jasper local// page B6

Local history //

The Overlanders of '62

The Overlanders were a group of people from Eastern Canada who made their way to the Cariboo goldfields west of the Rocky Mountains in the early 1860s. The adventure involved 250 men, including artist William Hind, who completed many sketches and paintings along the way, including scenery and buffalo skinning.

Trail in Jasper and Overlander Falls at Mt. Robson Park. The toughest part of the trip was Disaster Point near present day Pocahontas, which the group decided to trek rather than risk a river crossing. It was a gruelling climb and a “knee-destroying” descent. A single false step would mean instant destruction. At the summit, one of the pack animals lost its footing and tumbled 40 metres down the slope, lodging against a tree a metre from the cliff edge.

Augustus and Catherine Schubert, along with their children—ages six, five, and two—were also amongst the group. Catherine, who was pregnant, LEATHER PASS, ROCKY MOUNTAINS M472 // MCCORD MUSEUM was sure that the men would never discover gold Between Jasper and Tete but was nevertheless determined to keep her Jaune northbound group headed toward Prince George family together. (Their Cache, the Overlanders came with the intention of eventually reaching presence was thought upon another tough part of Barkerville. They built rafts to go down the to have assured Indian “The toughest part of the the trail where the valley was Fraser River, a decision the Shuswap thought was tribes along the way that narrow and heavy with brush. trip was Disaster Point near madness. As the Overlanders boarded their rafts, the large body of men By this time, the groups’ stores the Shuswap stood on the bank, sadly shaking were not a war party.) present day Pocahontas” were seriously depleted. One their heads saying: “Poor white man no more.” After a long, hard member of the party wrote The Shuswap were quite right, and a number of journey, the Overlanders in his diary: “I’m so hungry I Overlanders did lose their lives. reached Fort Edmonton, could eat a skunk from the back-end forward.” The irony is that the Overlanders went west to located where the Alberta legislature stands Finally, the group reached Tete Jaune Cache mine gold, but few of them ever did. Many found today. About half the group was unwilling to where they encountered some friendly Shuswap work as wood cutters, road labourers, waiters, continue. The other half, including the Schuberts, Indians who offered huckleberry wine and gardeners, painters and carpenters. Hind, the pushed on. At Lac Ste. Anne the ruggedness of salmon. There the Overlanders split. Thirty-two artist, went back east where he worked for New the terrain compelled them to abandon oxcarts went south to Kamloops, where many Americans Brunswick and Nova Scotia railway companies. and rely solely upon pack animals. The travellers had moved to pan for gold. (This southbound entered present-day Hinton along the Cache group included the Schubert family.) They hiked Stuart Taylor // Percotte Trail, which ends roughly where Mary almost 60 miles, then built rafts and took to the Stuart Taylor is an amateur historian and Reimer Park now stands. Thompson River. Two of them drowned. The rest, member of Hinton Town Council. Let him know The adventurers then made their way to Prairie including the very pregnant Catherine Schubert, what you think of his historical features or suggest Creek (now known as Maskuta Creek), then past made it to Kamloops. Catherine’s baby girl was another subject for him to cover. the site of modern-day Overlander Lodge, which is born the day after they arrived. Email: info@thejasperlocal.com named in their honour—along with the Overlander After the split at Tete Jaune Cache, the

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